


The price you pay

by thegoatz



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Angst with a sad ending, Character Death, Gen, Heavy Angst, Nature, Nature AU, No Romance, Resurrection, and i cried whist writing this because im an emotional bitch, and then he dies again liSTEN i dont think things through ok, basically daniel has a strong connection with nature, but like. Not Really, daniel dies. but then comes back to life, i am. very sorry about this, i guess this can Kinda go under, light fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-01-04 00:04:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21188234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegoatz/pseuds/thegoatz
Summary: Daniel is human.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> [based on the tags of this gifset](https://arcadianwishdom.tumblr.com/post/188606867272)

Daniel is human.

He lives, he breathes, he laughs and loves, and always has this peaceful, thoughtful, honest expression on his face. His emotions are reflected in his eyes: in the deep pools of iridescent blue, and if he ever lies, which is rare, it's never with his eyes. There's a natural beauty in his eyes, a radiating glow about them that just lights up the world, they hold so much truthfulness in them, so much purity, and they're so human it's almost shocking.

It's beyond being soft, it's humbling, not many people allow themselves to feel so much, not many people allow the emotions to wash over them, to flood their body until it overflows, dripping out of their eyes, _drop_, _by drop_, _by drop_, all the feelings: the emotions, the passion flow so freely. The drops illuminate, and soak into the soil, bonding the earth with the one who breathes it.

Not many people allow themselves to cry: to release, to feel.

But feel is what Daniel Bryan does best.

He feels everything, from the dejectedness of some to the joy of others, he is _mellow_, he is _content_, he is _sorrowful_, he is _undone_ all at once.

If only the people could feel what he feels, _if only they could understand_, he thinks, _everything would be so much better_. He is at peace with the world, for she speaks to him, she tells him how much she loves, and he loves in return, he has learned all there was to learn, and he hopes, he wishes, he begs, that people could understand that it's alright not to understand everything, for there are even things that even he does not fully comprehend. He accepts that some things are not meant to be known yet, and he does not detest it for wanting to remain untold.

The unbeknownst should be celebrated, for there is a beauty that is shared between it and the earth who knows all secrets. He praises the world, he praises the animals, the people, the nature for it is all so beautiful that he cannot contain himself. He loves so much, he loves so purely, so wholly that it is simply breath-taking, as the world is.

Some people do not know of the elegance, of the beauty, that the world possesses, and that fills Daniel with sorrow. The earth weeps and he weeps too. He cries, because the world is so full of life, of love, and some people only seek out to destroy it. He struggles to comprehend just why they would want to destroy grace in its rawest form, and he hopes for it to stop before it's too late.

Daniel is human.

He lives, he breathes, he laughs and loves, but what does one do when the pressures build-up and the weight on his shoulders gets too much to bear? What does one do, when the one who the earth trusts, more so than anyone else, starts to break, starts to crack, starts to fall and starts to _fail_. The honest expression on his face says all, for his eyes could never lie, he is worried, for the earth is not as happy as she once was. She trusts him, as he trusts her, but when he reaches out to her, she is reluctant to reach back.

The trees, the sky, the plants, the animals don't speak to him like they did before, and he weeps. He feels, just as he always does, and perhaps for the first time, he does not like what he feels. He lives the life of letting go, but for once the earth does not seem to be as kind to him as he is to her. She is sick, and he wants nothing more to help her but he is scared.

He is scared that he won't be enough, and he hopes, he wishes, he begs, that she will be fine, that she will live and breathe and love some more. The trees, the sky, the plants and the animals aren't like they were, and Daniel can feel them wasting away. Under a starlit sky, he waits. He waits because the earth, she is defective, and it hurts to see her like she is. He tilts his head up, and those beautiful eyes stare up into the sky, and up there, the stars are crystal lights.

They shimmer, and gleam, they dance, and they glisten, and Daniel laughs. He laughs because there is some hope after all, and his laugh lights up the sky brighter than those stars ever could. But the earth, in all her years, had turned cruel. It is not long before he realises, with so much joy, that he is enough. But the world is cold, a thing that he never thought he would see, and she tells him that he is the price to pay to see the world light up with love like he had hoped it to.

He is undone.

For he thought the earth loved him as he loved her, he thought she would cater for him as he catered for her, he thought she would take care of him like he took care of her. But when he remembers the path that he paved, when he knows that he could make the earth smile, and laugh, and live like he wanted her to, there was really never any choice.

He loved the earth, and at one point, she loved him too.

At first, he is scared, but he knows that the weight that he carried, he knows the people that he loved, he knows the hardships that he went through were all worth it, because the world would finally love again, and that's all that he's ever wanted. He feels, just one more time, and is frightened of never being able to feel again. The tears fall, _drop_, _after drop_, _after drop_, and his love, encased in tears, illuminate once more, and Daniel intakes a breath that he knows could be his last, he feels his heart thump, because the ground glows with his tears, radiating the most beautiful glimmer.

Daniel is human.

He lives, he breathes, he laughs and loves, and he never knew how quickly it would all end. He is scared at first, but that feeling soon washes away once he sees how ethereal the world looks. He would sacrifice himself over, and over, again to see the world in its rawest beauty like he sees now, and he knows that he is doing what is right.

He looks up at the stars in the sky, the tears glisten on his face, and he lets a small smile etch onto his face, they are beautiful.

And then they are gone.


	2. Chapter 2

The earth was not the same after he left, she lived but was bereft, she breathed but the air was corrupted, she laughed but it was hollow, she loved but it was bitter. It was just not the same without him. She wept, and this time, there was no-one to weep with her. Now it was she who was undone.

_Oh_, how she missed him.

She missed his laugh that would light up the sky, she missed the way that his eyes should shimmer in the night, she missed his words: so eloquent, so humbling, so human. In all her years, she forgot just how fragile humans were, she forgot how quickly they would break. She became so disheartened by the ones who sought out to destroy her, she thought all the others were the same.

_Daniel was human_, she thinks with a bitter thought, he lived, he breathed, he laughed, and he loved. He loved so much, and there was no-one to love him in return, she did at first, but she had corrupted herself, leaving him, in all his beauty, alone.

The world moved one without him, but there was an overwhelming feeling that something was not right, that something, _just something_, was missing, and nobody except the earth knew. She was sorrowful, and whilst the world moved on, she did not.

They both believed that Daniel was the price to pay to lose all of the ill-will on earth, they thought what they were doing was for the greater good, they made themselves believe it. If the earth were to be happy, _truly happy_, he would have to sacrifice himself, and he was so graceful, so beautiful, that she knew it would be sad to see him go.

For the greater good, she told herself.

But after he left, and she was alone, she wept, as she did before, but this time, the tears didn't stop. She wept for a thousand years, and then for a thousand more. How could she be so cruel to him? How could she turn her back on the beauty that is Daniel Bryan?

Even in death, he was so graceful, the smile on his face so beautiful, that the sky lit up, covered in so many colours. The world called it a phenomenon, but they didn't know it was because the sky was weeping, for it had lost part of itself. Even in death, he still sparked so much joy in others, the children laughed and pointed at the sky that shone and glimmered in all those vibrant colours, and people smiled and laughed and lived so joyously. Even in death, he had helped the earth more than she ever hoped he could.

On the days where she wept, for the loss of Daniel, harder than others, when the missing presence of Daniel was more known than others, the ground would light up, just as the sky once did. This too was called a phenomenon, that so many people tried to find the source of, but even she did not know how it happened. The soil would have streaks of gold, of silver, of the brightest blues and most vibrant pinks, it would be filled with mellow greens, and the most beautiful colours ever perceived by man. It comforted her, it reminded her of Daniel.

_Oh_, how she missed him.

Thousands and thousands of years passed, and thousands more tears had been shed. She had thought about him for so many years, she had pondered about whether or not she did the right thing. It's only a passing thought, but it's one that she's never had before, and it makes her think, _really think_. She was always worried that she was being done wrong by the people that she gave herself to, that they were so ungrateful in their ways that Daniel was the only way to make it stop. She was selfish, she knows that now, but she also wonders, that maybe it was also ungrateful to herself for Daniel to lose his life like this.

It was a waste of such a precious, beautiful gift.

She decided, at that moment, that she does not want to be without him any longer.

She goes to the place where he rests, a small gathering of animals find themselves there, as they have always done when she goes to see him. A layer of frost covers the ground, and yet flowers, and moss, still grow there, she knows that they should not, but she herself put them there and allowed them to grow because she knew that he deserved to still be covered in beauty.

There is still a hesitancy in her movements, for she does not know whether or not doing what she is going to do will disrupt the peace that has befallen the earth, but she thinks back to the years that she waited to see his smile again, and she knows that the decision is already made.

The ground shifts as he wakes, the frost cracks, the dirt moves, and the animals sit and wait. She can feel the excitement in them, and she smiles at them, for she too cannot wait. He sits up, and she smiles. He looks dazed at first, and blinks a few times, letting the dirt fall from his eyes. Bits of moss cling to his hair, but he does not brush them away, frost clutches onto his lips and his eyelashes, which flutter whenever he blinks. His skin is frozen and pale, but he breathes once more, and when he sees her, he smiles, and suddenly she feels whole again.

His eyes still shine as they did all those years ago, and when the earth weeps, this time she weeps for joy.

"I missed you, my child," She tells him, and she cannot hide the way that she shines.

"I missed you too," he responds, and the smile on his face is so bright, so luminescent, that she could sense the sun's jealousy.

Daniel doesn't seem as confused or shocked as she expected him to, and she voices those words to him, smiling pleasantly, and the animals play with him.

"I wasn't dead," he says, his voice soft, like the most delicate of silks, "I was just sleeping. Most days, I could feel your sorrow, and it overwhelmed me, I could feel you weep, and I wept too. It was dark, and I couldn't see much, but when we both wept, I could see the most beautiful colours: I could see gold, and silver, and the brightest blues you could ever see, I saw pinks that were so vibrant that I could feel it warm me. I saw these mellow greens, and they reminded me of you. I saw the most beautiful colours, and I hoped you could see them too."

She thinks back to all the times the ground would light up as she wept, and she could feel her love warm her, "that was you?"

Daniel nods his head, and she can see the frost melting off his lips and eyelashes, she could see the water drip down, creating streaks that glisten on his pale cheek, "I wanted to comfort you, did it work?"

"It did," she says, and Daniel can feel the warmth that she gives, and it gives colour to his cheeks. He held so much wisdom, so much kindness in him, that she wonders just how she ever created such a perfect being.

"Why did you bring me back?" He says, honestly, purely, his voice to beautiful that it sounds so heavenly to her ears.

"To teach you this final lesson that you did not understand, my child."

Daniel listens intently, his eyes lighting up, for he always loved to learn, and she smiles fondly at him.

"You love so much, Daniel, and we are blessed to have you here, but all your love for the environment, all your love for the people, the animals, all your love for me, and yet you could not love the one person who also mattered."

Daniel's brow furrowed, and tiny speckles of frost fall from them.

"Who also matters that I have not loved?"

"Yourself."

Daniel ponders in thought, and it is simply enchanting.

"I have loved myself."

"Maybe, but not in the way that you have loved others. You love so beautifully with others, you care for them, you laugh with them, you make them feel whole, but you love yourself not because you want to, but because you feel like you have to. You do not allow yourself to love you for simply being you."

"Does that make you sad?"

"It does."

Daniel tilts his head, thinking of a response, and whilst his brows are furrowed, she can still see the pools of iridescent blue beneath them. His eyes, even after thousands of years of not seeing light, still shimmer, and gleam.

"I do not want you to be sad," he says after a while.

"Then love yourself as you love others."

"Will you still weep if I do?"

She smiles softly at him.

"Never."

"That's all I ever wanted."

She smiles so warmly at him, and Daniel's smile is just as radiant, it lights up the ground, the sky, the air, and the people might not know it, but the earth is now whole again.

"So you will love yourself as I love you?" She asks him.

"For you, I will."

The birds sing in the distance, the sun glows so warmly, all jealousy replaced with love and joy, the people are filled with effervescence, and the world is at peace.

"Let us look at the sky," she says softly to him, and Daniel agrees.

The stars are just as beautiful as they were the last time he saw them, all those thousands of years ago, and they shimmer in the reflection of his eyes.

They are beautiful.

And this time, they stay.


	3. for you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> based on [ this post ](https://dominikdijakothicc.tumblr.com/post/190930580515/may-your-soul-be-overgrown-with-moss-may-your)

One day, they sit together. It's peaceful, quiet, _serene_: it's all she ever wanted. 

Daniel has something on his mind, she knows, for his eyes could never lie to her. She doesn't push him, because she knows that he is just trying to find the words, and that his eloquence takes time.

A pleasant silence befalls them; and she dreads the moment that it ends.

The moment comes too soon.

"There is something that you must know." Daniel starts, his voice soft, like silk.   
  
She looks at him, but he does not look at her.

"There is a day that I will have to die again," Daniel says, his voice quiet, thoughtful, "and this time, you will not be able to bring me back."

She says nothing.

Years had passed and she had been foolish enough to love him in the way that she did. She knew he would have to leave her again, and when the day finally came, she would mourn like she never had before.

"My body grows older every day," he adds, his voice even quieter than before.

He looks down at his hand, and she looks with him. The skin is not as youthful as it once was, wrinkles find themselves formed on his skin where there were none before, showing them both what she dreads. He now turns his head to look at her and whilst she doesn't want to look back, she finds herself entranced in those piercing blue eyes.

"It is inevitable." He says, his eyes drooping low.

She searches his face, and notices so many things that she had tried to ignore: from the streaks of grey in his beard and hair, to the wrinkles around his eyes, and to the hollowness of his cheeks.

_It _is _inevitable_, she thinks but does not say.

She doesn't know what to say, a million thoughts race through her mind, a million responses that she wants to say, a million-

"Please do not be sad when I die," he asks, and her eyes finally meet his again.

"Daniel-"

"Promise me that you will not weep a single tear when I die."

"I- I can't p-"

"Please."

He begs now, and it's something that she never thought she would see. She can hear the age in his voice, can see it in his movements, and it's all become so hauntingly real.

It is inevitable, but she doesn't know how she'll _ever_ be prepared for it.

"I promise," she lies, for she knows she could not.

She reaches out to him after that, and he lets her. Her delicate fingers touch his skin and now she can feel it: she can feel his life slowly creep on, steadily towards that inevitability that she so completely, and wholly, dreads.

  
The day comes far too soon.

He lays in the grass, and everything feels so off. The wind, and the birds, and the animals, and the rivers, and the grass, and the soil, they all grieve; they all cry for the moment is not far away.

She takes his hand in hers, and she memorises every little detail that she can, because soon, she will not be able to see them. His eyes are closed and she desperately begs for him to open them just so she can see his eyes one last time.

"Daniel," she says, and he squeezes her hand lightly. She takes a small breath before saying, "I love you so very much."

"I love you too," he says, still not opening his eyes, and she fails to resist the urge to reach out and stroke his cheek.

"May you find peace in death, my angel. May your soul be overgrown with moss, may your veins fill with rainwater and your lungs swell with flowers."

He smiles at that, "I've never heard that before."

She huffs out a small laugh, "may I teach you one last lesson?"

"Of course."

She smiles down at him even though she knows he cannot see it. His grip around her hand tightens, and doesn't let up. She finds peace in the action.

"You see, when you die you will not go to the clouds above and you will not go to the fire below. You will go to the earth here.

"The land will take your flesh and the rivers will take your blood and the sky will take your breath and they will treasure them and they will spread them far and wide. And the plants will lay their roots in the land and drink of the rivers and breathe of the sky and the animals will eat the fruit of the trees. And in the land and the rivers and the sky and the trees and the animals you will be forever. 

"And everything that knows will know _you_ and everything that loves will love _you_ and everything that is will be _you_ and _you will be beautiful_."

She does not cry when she stops talking, because even though Daniel's grip on her hand had stopped long ago, her words comforted her as much as she hoped they comforted him.

His lungs may never fill with air again, but that does not matter because the sky will breathe for him. He may never bleed again, but that does not matter because the rivers will bleed for him.

He may never live again, but that does not matter for they will live for him.


End file.
